Proposed regulations for French Quarter strip clubs will now move to City Council for review.

For several blocks on Bourbon Street, strip clubs can be found on every corner -- roughly 19 to be exact. But a recent study is calling for those venues to be reduced to just seven in the French Quarter.

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“We’re looking at an industry where its already been found that 2/3 of them are found breaking the law,” Kristen said.

Ann Kesler has been the general manager at Larry Flynt's Hustler Club and Larry Flynt's Hustler Barely Legal Club on Bourbon Street for the last 15 years.

“I don't think we need new rules or new restrictions. I don’t think that that's going to help anything. I don’t think that the issues that they had at the strip clubs that were doing the things against the law, I don’t think that bringing up new rules is going to help solve that because those were all rules that weren't being followed before,” Kesler said.

She said that Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club employs roughly 75 people, and is hoping the city doesn't close down her business.

“We don't cause secondary crime. We only have benefits to the area,” Kesler said.

At a City Planning Commission meeting Tuesday, others opposed to the changes said no prior analysis had been done for the appropriate number of venues in the city, and said the proposed cap for seven strip clubs was arbitrary.

"There is no evidence that these clubs create crime. Further, no analysis has been done for what is the right number of venues for our city,” Suzanne Leckert said.

Jim Kelly, executive director at The Covenant House, said the homeless shelter has seen a number of young girls get victimized while working at the strip clubs. He believes the city should consider setting the age limit at 21 for all employees who work at those venues in any capacity.

“We have young people, vulnerable people, who are being exploited. We have drug dealing, we have prostitution taking place in more than 50 percent of the strip clubs in New Orleans. Our city has become a major hub for human trafficking,” Kelly said.

Limiting where strip clubs can be located through zoning and conditional land use is also being proposed, as well as providing separate bathrooms for dancers and club patrons. Security cameras would also be required throughout the strip clubs.

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